Gail Cheeseman on South Georgia Island near Antarctica in 2016. Photo by Debbie Thompson

This article in shorter form was first published in the Spring 2022 Avocet.

by Barry Langdon-Lassagne, SCVAS Board President

Gail Cheeseman loved sharing her joy of nature and enthusiasm for life with everyone she met: she was relentlessly optimistic. The outpouring of support our chapter has received since her passing and the stories you’ve sent give us a glimpse into the positive ways she has impacted all of us.

Gail’s involvement in and staunch support of SCVAS goes back at least to the early 1970s and continued throughout her life. She lead countless field trips, ran a nest record program, hosted pelagic and international nature trips with her husband Doug, authored chapters in the first edition of Birding at the Bottom of the Bay, and with Doug chaired the Programs Committee for well over a decade. For our first Birdathon, in 1988, Gail helped form one of the four original teams, and she remained an active participant through 2020.

Many of you knew Gail from her and Doug’s epic adventures leading Cheesemans’ Ecology Safaris around the world, from their local pelagic trips observing whales and seabirds off the California coast, or from her extraordinarily long involvement as a leader and supporter of our chapter, but Ginger and I got to know Gail late in her life, simply as a fellow birder at our local preserves, enjoying the amazing nature in our own backyards. Gail’s cheerful disposition and her willingness to share her extensive knowledge of the natural world left a permanent impression on us. We first met Gail through Bill Pelletier and Kitty O’Neil.

On the trail at Picchetti Ranch with Gail in 2019. Left to right: Bill Pelletier, Barry Langdon-Lassagne, Ginger Langdon- Lassagne, Garrett Lau, Gail Cheeseman and Gordon Rydquist

Bill and Kitty had a special relationship with Gail. When Bill moved out from the east coast and was missing his family, Gail became his “west coast mom.” Bill and Kitty formed a birding class nicknamed “The Sharpies” and Gail was an active attendee right from the beginning, regularly attending the classes (over a hundred!) and nearly all the field trips. Ginger and I joined The Sharpies in their third year, and Gail was there next to us in the classroom and out on the hikes.

Ginger Langdon-Lassagne remembers “Gail taught me so much about the familiar birds of our beloved Bay Area. She was always glad to share what she knew and was generous with her time for explanations. I learned the wingtip pattern of an adult Ring-billed Gull from her, and the scolding chip call of the Common Yellowthroat. She was incredibly cheerful and active, even after her long and draining treatments for cancer. One day out at the coast, we were climbing down some stair-steep cliffs to
view the seabirds; I offered to carry her scope & tripod, but she declined, saying ‘Oh, thank you, but I use it as my walking stick to get down the slippery parts of the trail!’ Gail was so joyful and full of knowledge and ingenuity like that.”

Bob Hirt, our Treasurer and long-time Board member told me “Although I only went on one international trip with Cheesemans’ Ecology, I did go on several Pelagic trips with Gail. Doug and Gail made these trips a delight with constant fascinating information during the trips about seabirds, whales and ecology of Monterey Bay. I’ll never forget her smile, laugh and upbeat manner.”

Bob Power, former Executive Director for SCVAS wrote in to say “Gail was a tireless advocate for the environment and a valued member of our environmental community. AND a keen and devoted birder. Although many of the pelagic trips we were on were focused on marine mammals, it was Gail who was always searching for jaegers, rare shearwaters, and albatross.”

SCVAS member Kris Karnos first met Gail around the late ‘80s, joining her and Doug on many Monterey Bay pelagic trips, and a trip to Tanzania and Kenya in 2012, including Ndutu, which she remembers being Gail and Doug’s favorite place. Kris says “In recent years, we sometimes, by chance or by plan, met up at a march for science or other event to show up for social and environmental justice. I deeply admired Gail for her knowledge of and care for birds and wildlife in general, her commitment to responsible eco-tourism, and her patience with the human animals with which she so frequently interacted.” Kris remembers “a guide in Kenya dubbing her ‘Mama Tembo’ for her love of elephants.”

Gail among the elephants, leading a Cheeseman’s Ecology Safari in 2012

Kris also says “I will miss her greeting with its New Hampshire accent on the other end of a phone call, the sight of her lean figure at the back of the boat identifying pelagic birds attracted to the chum, and I will deeply miss being able to share with her some new experience (whether hers or mine) with our wild fellow creatures.”

Member Carolyn Straub also recalls Gail’s love of elephants. “Gail would be most elegant about the elephants in Africa—as frequently I would ask Gail and Doug if elephants were surviving the poaching. Confusing news reports. Gail would reassure us about all the elephants that they saw and say that there were still many! She saw tons of elephants. It was comforting to hear from Gail at SCVAS meetings last year about a beloved mammal!”

Member Larry Volpe fondly remembers Gail & Doug’s many presentations and recalls “As a kid I had Marlon Perkins and Jacques Cousteau as heroes and influences that shaped my world of advocacy for nature. As an adult, for the last 30 years, I had and will continue to have Gail and Doug. They are unrivaled in their knowledge of nature, their enthusiasm for sharing their knowledge and modeling for us how to advocate for our wild places. There are few places you can go in life to find such a person like Gail who talked the talk, but also walked the walk in being a wildlife warrior hero.”

Gail joined the Wandering Kestrels 2019 Birdathon team. Left to right: Bill Pelletier, Kitty O’Neil, Melanie O’Brien, Garrett Lau, Sergey Pavlov, Sue Pelmulder, Sergio Perez, Ginger Langdon-Lassagne, Barry Langdon-Lassagne and Gail Cheeseman

Debbie Thompson, past SCVAS Board president and Board member for twenty years, says “Thank you Gail for giving us the gift of nature and wildlife appreciation. Your enthusiasm was contagious and your unwavering passion for conservation was truly inspiring. We will forever treasure the many fond memories of time spent with you.”

Shani Kleinhaus, our Environmental Advocate since 2009 writes: “I miss Gail's smile, her wisdom and her inherent optimism. She was a calm and positive voice on our Environmental Action Committee. Gail's love of life and nature and her intuitive understanding helped guide advocacy efforts to stronger action and effective results. I feel personally fortunate to have known Gail and share the deep loss felt by her family and friends.”

Late last year, Gail told Bill Pelletier that she’d love to see a Black-chinned Sparrow one more time before she died and Bill exclaimed “I’ll take you now!” Gail replied “Silly, we can’t go to Arizona,” but Bill drove her to the back side of Loma Prieta in the Santa Cruz mountains and that day they found six Black-chinned Sparrows, to Gail’s delight.

Kitty says “Gail was eternally optimistic. She never seemed to have a bad day.” Her cheerful nature was contagious and she lifted everyone’s spirits when she was around, both in class and on the trail. When birding in California, Kitty recalled “any time we saw a raptor or a vulture Gail would hark back to her adventures in Africa,” pointing out the similarities between the African and California savannas and their related birds.

“Gail touched a lot of people more deeply than anyone knew,” Bill reflected.